Open perennial grasslands, often rich in chamaephytes, most characteristic of the thermophilous oak level of Iberia, southern France, southern Italy, Greece and the Balkans. Some of the largest remaining expanses of unbroken grasslands in Europe, of evident importance as faunal habitats, belong to this division. Maintained by extensive grazing and mowing.
Sparse or discontinuous xerophile grasslands of Stipa pennata, Festuca auquieri (Festuca duriuscula), Festuca hervieri, Koeleria vallesiana or Sesleria albicans var. elegantissima with Helianthemum apenninum, Helianthemum canum, Genista spp., Globularia spp., Ononis striata, Euphorbia seguierana, Potentilla crantzii, Thymus dolomiticus, Plantago argentea, Rosa pimpinellifolia, Dianthus sylvestris, Lavandula angustifolia, Aster alpinus, Anthyllis spp., Carex humilis, best developed in the Causses, but also present locally in Provence and Languedoc, from the Alps to Catalonia.